New PC - Best way to transfer files and settings

English Install/Boot/Login
1

Hi,
So I’m planning on gettin a new rig, larger HDD and more RAM, maybe even an SSD for the OS alone and I was wondering wich it the best way to transfer my files but most important, my application’s settings ? I don’t have that many applications (Thunderbird, Firefox, Chromium, VirtualBox, mplayer etc) but what I need is their settings and OS’s settings. I spent a lot of time tailoring the OS for my needs, setting up applications, desktops, sound card configuration, etc.

I have no ideea what tools exists in the Linux world so please guide me !

Thanks

2

What is your current OS/version?
I just did that and it was not just an upgrade. It was a quantum leap: From openSUSE 11.1 to openSUSE 13.1. Everything was new: New SSD for OS, new HDD for /home.
I just installed the OS on my SSD, then, I checked that all of my applications were installed.
Then, I just copied files from my previous installation. Firefox was the easiest part (I used sync). For the rest of them, look for the hidden . files, like for example .virtualbox and copy them.

You can either use cp, rsync, konqueror, dolphin, or any other copy utility.

3

I have 13.1 x64 on KDE and planning on installing the exact same.

I know about the hidden dot files on the /home/user but I gues those only hold settings for most user installed apps, not OS settings or other stuff, isn’t it ?

4

No your home hold your personal settings. ie your desktop your documents settings for any program you run.

There are globule settings and some programs use those most can be found in /etc but you probably should not copy /etc to the new machine since some settings would break the new install like fstab. But be sure you have a copy available in case you may need it as a reference

So copy all of /home and have a copy of /etc available just in case you need it. Install fresh (yes you will need to add any apps you need that are not default but it is easier in the long run)

5

On 2014-07-28 15:16, robertot5 wrote:

> I have 13.1 x64 on KDE and planning on installing the exact same.
>
> I know about the hidden dot files on the /home/user but I gues those
> only hold settings for most user installed apps, not OS settings or
> other stuff, isn’t it ?

Correct.

Typically you copy the contents of the entire /home partition from the
old disk to the new, with no one except root logged in.

If you want to also keep the system configs, applications, settings,
data, etc, things become somewhat more complicated, but not much.

On the new system, you have to create all the partitions you want,
using, I suggest, the 13.1 XFCE rescue system. For instance, you create
a root, a swap, a home, say a /usr/local/ because you feel like it, etc.
You mount them all, say, on /newsystem:


/newsystem
/newsystem/home
/newsystem/usr/local
/newsystem/srv

You need to have mounted somewhere the old system, say, on /oldsystem.
All its partitions. It can be via network, or locally. Doesn’t matter
(not samba, though):


/oldsystem
/oldsystem/home
/oldsystem/home/stuffonotherpartition

Notice that I’m using different partition distribution on both sides, to
show that it does not matter.

Then you just copy everything from /oldsystem to /newsystem… You can
use “rsync” with appropriate parameters, or just plain old and trusty
‘mc’ (midnight commander).

When it finishes, you have to edit entries in the new system fstab, so
that they reflect reality, and in grub config files.

Finally, you have to reinstall grub[1,2] with the appropriate
concoction, and then see if it boots… :slight_smile:

Problems? Video proprietary driver, if it changes, is typically the
worst. Then network card, sound card. Just take each one as it comes.

–
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.

(from 13.1 x86_64 “Bottle” (Minas Tirith))

6

On 2014-07-28 17:56, gogalthorp wrote:
>
> No your home hold your personal settings. ie your desktop your documents
> settings for any program you run.

Not any program. Just those that you run as user :slight_smile:

System services are not included. Databases are not. Server data is not
(the /srv directory, typically).

So if you have a mail server, it is not in /home (not config, and
probably not the data either). Or a fax server, print server,
mysql/postgres databases, etc. O apache, ftp, samba shares…

And you might also have some programs which you run as root, which use
settings and data under /root/*

–
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.

(from 13.1 x86_64 “Bottle” (Minas Tirith))

7

On 07/28/2014 10:56 AM, gogalthorp wrote:
>
> No your home hold your personal settings. ie your desktop your documents
> settings for any program you run.
>
> There are globule settings and some programs use those most can be found
> in /etc but you probably should not copy /etc to the new machine since
> some settings would break the new install like fstab. But be sure you
> have a copy available in case you may need it as a reference
>
> So copy all of /home and have a copy of /etc available just in case you
> need it. Install fresh (yes you will need to add any apps you need that
> are not default but it is easier in the long run)

I made the same kind of change to a new computer about 6 weeks ago. I did the
following steps:

  1. Decided on the numbers and sizes of the partitions, and then shrank the
    Windows 8.1 partition.
  2. Installed a fresh copy of openSUSE 13.1 on the new computer being careful to
    keep my user name the same as in the previous system. I mounted /home on the
    partition that I planned to use in the final system.
  3. After installation of 13.1 and a verification that it was working, I rebooted
    into run-level 3, logged in as root, and booted the old computer, which was
    still functional.
  4. I used “rsync -avz” to copy the entire contents of /home on the old computer
    to /home on the new one. Once I rebooted the new one into graphical mode, my
    desktop, and all user files were restored.
  5. I keep a few of the system configuration files such as /etc/hosts and
    /etc/sudoers backed up on an NFS volume. The final step was to use YaST to set
    up the NFS mounts, and copy those files into the correct locations.
8

Hi all!

Yes it does matter, since one has to do something for it:
Either establish a network connection between the 2 PCs,
or physically plug the hard disk of the old PC in the new one.

Both methods mean some effort.

Yes, the rest of it may be simple.

The same here:

Hi lwfinger,
you probably anticipated that your PCs - and thus those of the OP - were connected by network.

9

Just to note: robertot5 is not a #1 poster.

10

Due to the fact that I’m going to change the partition setup drastically, I plan on using lvm with two hdds, I’m going to take the simple way of doing a fresh install, copy the contents of my user’s home directory and then setup the rest of OSs settings either manually or via files in /etc folder.

But I wonder!

I if let’s say copy my user’s home folder I get the settings for my applications but are should I do this after I freshly install these applications or before that? I don’t think suse has a way of getting knowledge of them and add them in kickoff and repositories by just copying the dot folder right?

So:

  • fresh install SUSE
  • fresh install my applications
  • copy my user’s home folder

?

11

On 2014-07-28 22:56, ratzi wrote:
>
> Hi all!
>
> robin_listas;2656259 Wrote:
>> You need to have mounted somewhere the old system, say, on /oldsystem.
>> All its partitions. It can be via network, or locally. Doesn’t matter
>
> Yes it does matter, since one has to do something for it:
> Either establish a network connection between the 2 PCs,
> or physically plug the hard disk of the old PC in the new one.

It does not matter in the sense that the copy procedure is the same if
the disks are “somehow” mounted or accessible.

–
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.

(from 13.1 x86_64 “Bottle” (Minas Tirith))

12

Hi robertot5 !

First this:

I would say, these are nearly perfect conditions !
And you can almost do and copy anything, except perhaps of using dd.
Because if your old system has all the updates as well for the Apps that you use,
and if you install the same software on the new PC,
then there can not be incompatibilities with respect to the settings in the hidden files and folders
(those whose name start with a period, or ‘.’).

You can probably have 10 hard disks or more without any problem,
as long as they can physically be connected to your PC.

But using LVM is questionable.

If you would like to set up a server with one huge volume,
LVM or a RAID may serve you well.
However there is a drawback of using LVM: if only one of your hard disks should ever show signs of failure
(like I just encountered them for an only 1.5 years old 2TB Hitachi hard disk !),
you’ll have nothing but a mess, because you won’t neither have the chance to know,
which pieces of your data are stored on which physical drive,
nor will you have a good chance to recover your data.

fine, but there are several ways to do that.

Still that depends.
If you make a fresh install, then the hidden settings files or the settings files in the hidden folders
may be newer (or have a later date/time) than the respective files in your current home folder on your old PC,
even though your settings files on your old PC may contain more recent data !!

Or in other words, the settings files in a fresh installation will probably just have the date of the installation,
while your files on the old PC will have an older date, despite they’re more relevant !

I don’t know how rsync (which was proposed in previous replies to this thread) would act.

It is not clear that rsync in this case would act in a way that you wanted it to.

You should probably say in which way you would prefer to copy the data and settings from your old PC to your new PC:

is it
(1) via network
(2) via plugging the hard disk of your old PC in the new PC
(3) via using an external (e.g. USB) hard disk
(4) ???

Good luck
Mike